Vendome Fire Remembered 41 Years Later

This week the Hotel Vendome Fire Memorial on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall was adorned with wreaths and white flowers to commemorate 41 years since the blaze that killed nine Boston firefighters.

The Boston Fire Department tweeted a remembrance of the tragedy earlier this week.

On June 17, 1972, a fire broke out at the hotel at the corner of Dartmouth Street and Commonwealth Avenue. After the fire had been taken under control, the southeast section of the building collapsed without warning during a routine overhaul operation.

The Vendome was the worst firefighter tragedy in the history of the city. The nine firefighters who lost their lives and whom are memorialized on the mall are:

• Fire Fighter Thomas W. Beckwith
• Fire Fighter Joseph F. Boucher
• Lieutenant Thomas J. Carroll
• Fire Fighter Charles E. Dolan
• Lieutenant John E. Hanbury, Jr.
• Fire Fighter John E. Jameson
• Fire Fighter Richard B. Magee
• Fire Fighter Paul J. Murphy
• Fire Fighter Joseph P. Saniuk

The rebuilt Vendome building stands not far from the memorial.